Chapter 12: Descendants of the Void
Percy felt fantastic. Well, he was still on a quest to retrieve the most destructive weapon on the planet from a literal hellscape, but now he knew that his mother was still alive. Percy didn't know why, but after Magnus had mentioned some other god of war Ares's fury died down. He seemed almost fearful, but thankfully Ares must possess some kind sense of honor, as he provided Percy with information on his mother and the means to reach the underworld.
Unfortunately, their ride smelled like shit. "Kindness International" a "humane" zoo transport company. In reality it was about as humane as an African civil war. Three animals were stuffed into metal cages, a zebra, an albino lion and some strange antelope. Not 5 minutes into the drive and we had all decided that we would free the animals at the end of our journey.
The trailer was cramped with four giants taking up most of the room, but as soon as we got settled down Annabeth asked the question we all were thinking. "Magnus, what did you mean by 'The true God of War?'"
The other Primarchs shot Magnus a look, Magnus responded, "I should not have said that…" he replied regretfully, "I will answer your question Annabeth, but first we must ask some of ours."
"Little of this time has survived into our own, these Greek myths that form the basis of your world survive only in names with little meaning." Sanguinius explained. "In our encounter with Medusa, we would have been in great danger if it were not for your knowledge of her abilities, we ask that you tell us as much as you can about the gods."
Annabeth told the Primarchs of the 12 Olympians, their aspects and the myths surrounding them. She then continued explaining the origin of the gods and the war against the titans.
"So, Zeus and the other gods led a rebellion against Kronos, and eventually defeated them, banishing Kronos to Tartarus." Annabeth concluded
"Hold on" Vulkan said, "If the gods were the children of the titans, then where did the titans come from?"
Annabeth thought for a moment, "Kronos was a child of Gaea, the Earth mother, and Ouranos, Lord of the Heavens. Until Ouranos was killed by Kronos and his essence scattered"
"And what of them, where did they come from?" Vulkan asked once again.
"The myths get really scattered and unclear when it comes to their origins, but what is known is that they originated from the first deity Chaos."
Silence held in the air. The Primarchs had a look of abject terror on their faces.
"No…" Sanguinius broke the silence, "It's not possible…"
"They can't possibly have such influence over Earth now…" Magnus said fearfully
"What is it? What's wrong?" Percy asked
"We have to tell them now…" Rogal said
"We can't! It's too dangerous! They can't possibly handle this knowledge!" Sanguinius protested
"And what good did not knowing do to us?" Vulkan said
The Primarchs remained silent once again, considering the validity of their brother's statement. "Magnus… tell them." Sanguinius conceded.
"Listen well… For I will tell you this only once." Magnus said, "About the true God of War I spoke of earlier, about the force that once corrupted myself and my brothers, about why Gods are to be feared and not worshiped."
Annabeth interrupted, "I thought you said that the gods didn't have any influence in your time?"
"No, there are Gods that hold large influence in the future. But you do not know their names, nor would you want to worship them." Magnus answered.
"The Warp, the very realm psykers draw power from, is a hellish place. In our time four beings of emotion gained sentience and amassed such power that God is the only term that could be used to describe them. They are the Gods of Chaos, Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh." Magnus explained
"The first to be born was Khorne. The Blood God, Lord of Rage, Taker of Skulls. Khorne is a War God in its purest form, desiring only the spilling of blood. Some say Khorne is a God of Honor and Martial Pride. But the only honor shown is towards the weak, for they are considered unworthy of his wrath."
"Next came Tzeentch. The Changer of Was, Chaos God of change, Evolution, and Sorcery. He is the only God I have spoken to personally. He promised me the power I required, but I soon learned that all of my actions were in accordance with his grand design. He turns all who worship him into his puppets. Because of my folly violent changes and mutations were placed upon my sons. My mistake caused… caused my father's downfall" Magnus said regretfully, pausing momentarily.
"The third to form was Nurgle. The Plague Lord, Chaos god of Disease, Decay, Death, and Despair. All sickness that plagues the galaxy comes from Nurgle, his hope is that mortals will accept this pestilence and find joy in the inevitable decay of all existence."
"The last to form will be Slaanesh. Prince of Pleasure and Lord of Excess. The Chaos God of Pleasure, Passion, and Decadence. Slaanesh personifies the desire in all mortals to have more. Worshipers of Slaanesh constantly seek new stimulations whether gained from themselves, or by inflicting suffering upon others. Thankfully, Slaanesh will not form until the early 30th Millennium"
"The civil war we told you of after Medusa. Was caused by the influence of the Chaos Gods. The conflict was called the Horus Heresy. I… was corrupted by Tzeentch and forced to serve his will. In total, nine of us turned against our father, and started the greatest war humanity had ever known."
Annabeth, Percy and Grover were terrified. Just the despair and fear present in Magnus's voice was enough for them to realize the gravity of the situation. "But, if they are so powerful how come we haven't heard of them before?" Annabeth asked.
"The power of the Chaos is tied to the power of the Warp. Untrained Psykers pose a threat to all those around them as they are conduits for daemonic power and may even become possessed by daemons of the warp. Since there are but a handful of human Psykers at this time, their influence over humanity is minimal." Magnus said
"But then… why did you say you felt the presence of Khorne when you spoke with Ares?" Annabeth asked
Mangus sighed, "As much as I hoped for the contrary, the myths you told us confirmed my suspicions."
"W-What do you mean?" Annabeth asked fearfully.
Magnus looked directly at Annabeth with pity, "I do not know how they got here, nor how much their influence commands them. But unfortunately for humanity… the gods are creatures of the Warp."
AN: Yes, I know, I probably screwed up the lore somewhere in here. I know the chapter is a bit short, and I probably could have thought of a better way to explain the gods in regard to the 40k universe, but I wanted to get a new chapter out by the end of the month, and it was kind of necessary for the Primarchs to tell the demigods about Chaos sooner rather than later. I really appreciate all the reviews I got from the last chapter thank you all so much for taking the time to read this!
In regard to the future of this story, I obviously plan to finish the Lightning Thief, however I'm thinking about skipping The Sea of Monsters and going straight to The Titan's Curse. I just can't really think of many ways I can use the Primarchs in Sea of Monsters in contrast to Titan's Curse where I've already got a lot of ideas as to how the Primarchs can fit into that story. I just want to get your thoughts on that.